Friends in Deed Caps Women’s History Month With Fundraiser for Homeless Women’s Program

Friends In Deed will close out Women’s History Month tonight with a fundraiser built around the activities its staff offers daily to women experiencing homelessness in Pasadena — floral arranging, birthday celebrations and community connection.

The event, titled “EmpowerHER: Flowers and Flourish,” runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Shakespeare Club of Pasadena, 171 S. Grand Ave. Attendees will arrange their own bouquets and assemble birthday kits for guests of The Women’s Room, the nonprofit’s daytime program for women who are alone and experiencing or at risk of homelessness, according to the organization’s website.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the 5th District, is the event’s honoree and Rose Sponsor.

The Women’s Room has operated out of Friends In Deed’s headquarters at 444 E. Washington Blvd. since 2007. It is, according to the organization, the only program in the San Gabriel Valley dedicated to serving women who are alone and experiencing homelessness. The program is open Monday through Thursday and provides showers, laundry, meals, access to computers and case management to 20 to 35 women each day, according to the Friends In Deed website.

“This series is a reflection of the work we do at The Women’s Room — creating a space where women can feel safe, empowered and supported,” Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater, who leads Friends In Deed as president and CEO, said in a statement when the organization launched the EmpowerHER series in 2025, according to the Pasadena Outlook.

Friends In Deed, an interfaith organization that has served Pasadena’s homeless and at-risk communities since 1894, also operates a food pantry, a bad weather shelter, an eviction prevention program and a street outreach and housing program from its Pasadena campus.

The organization launched EmpowerHER in March 2025 as a three-week series of events including wellness workshops, book discussions and trivia nights. This year’s event is a standalone evening that also includes a $10,000 crowdfunding challenge to benefit The Women’s Room, according to the Friends In Deed website.

Barger, a Republican who has represented the county’s largest supervisorial district since 2016, is listed as the event’s Rose Sponsor. Additional sponsors include Jackie Knowles, Mishele and Ben Myers, and the Pasadena Methodist Foundation/First United Methodist Church of Pasadena, according to the event page.

Tickets are available at friendsindeedpas.org/empowerher. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, contact development@friendsindeedpas.org.

“The more I got involved with Friends In Deed, the more I learned there were countless ways to help,” Lindsey Reed, director of The Women’s Room, said on the organization’s website.